Information processing device and communication method

ABSTRACT

An information processing device (10) provides an application function to a client device (20). The information processing device (10) includes an acquisition unit (161) and a communication unit (140). The acquisition unit (161) acquires characteristic information related to the application function. The communication unit (140) communicates with the client device (20). The communication unit (140) changes processing related to the communication in accordance with the characteristic information.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device and acommunication method.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, there has been a wireless communication technology ofexchanging various data using wireless communication. For example, inrecent years, there have been increasing quantities of applications thataccess a mobile network game from a terminal device such as a smartphonevia a wireless network. There is known a technique of performingrendering on a three-dimensional model into two-dimensional data whensuch an application transmits an image to the terminal device. In such atechnology, the bit rate is intensively allocated to a user'sobject-of-interest in a screen, thereby transmitting an image with highimage quality to the terminal device while reducing a processing load onthe terminal device.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: JP 2007-79664 A

SUMMARY Technical Problem

For example, when providing a service of a network game, there is ademand for quality corresponding to the type of game, such as lowlatency and multiple access involving a large quantity of playersparticipating in the game at the same time, rather than high imagequality. However, it has been difficult, in network games, to provide astable quality service from the viewpoint of latency and throughput. Itis desirable to provide a service with stable quality even when acommunication environment changes depending on conditions such as a usestatus of a communication resource and the quantity of terminals to besimultaneously connected.

In view of this, the present disclosure proposes a technology thatcontributes to achievement of provision of a service with more stablequality.

Note that the above problem or target is merely one of a plurality ofproblems or targets that can be solved or achieved by a plurality ofembodiments disclosed in the present specification.

Solution to Problem

According to the present disclosure, an information processing apparatusis provided. The information processing device provides an applicationfunction to a client device. The information processing device includesan acquisition unit and a communication unit. The acquisition unitacquires characteristic information related to the application function.The communication unit communicates with the client device. Thecommunication unit changes processing related to the communication inaccordance with the characteristic information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a proposed technology ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing device according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of service types according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating an example of characteristic informationstored in a storage unit according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating another example of characteristicinformation stored in a storage unit according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating an example of communication controlinformation stored in the storage unit according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a table illustrating another example of characteristicinformation stored in the storage unit according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating another example of characteristicinformation stored in the storage unit according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating transmission data generated by acommunication unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of aterminal device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of communication processingexecuted by the information processing device according to theembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of communication processingexecuted by a terminal device 20 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that redundantdescriptions will be omitted from the present specification and thedrawings by assigning the same reference signs to components havingsubstantially the same functional configuration.

Furthermore, in the present specification and the drawings, similarcomponents in the embodiments may be distinguished by adding differentalphabets after the same reference numerals. However, when there is noneed to particularly distinguish similar components from each other,only the same reference numeral is assigned.

One or more embodiments (including examples and modifications) describedbelow can each be implemented independently. On the other hand, at leastsome of the plurality of embodiments described below may beappropriately combined with at least some of other embodiments. Theplurality of embodiments may include novel features different from eachother. Accordingly, the plurality of embodiments can contribute toachieving or solving different objects or problems, and can exhibitdifferent effects.

Note that the description will be provided in the following order.

-   -   1. Introduction    -   1.1. Overview of proposed technology    -   2. Configuration example of information processing system    -   2.1. Information processing system    -   2.2. Information processing device    -   2.3. Terminal device    -   3. Communication processing    -   3.1. Communication processing by information processing device    -   3.2. Communication processing by terminal device    -   4. Other embodiments    -   5. Supplementary notes

1. Introduction

<1.1. Overview of Proposed Technology>

First, an overview of a proposed technology according to the presentdisclosure will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating anoverview of the proposed technology of the present disclosure. Theproposed technology according to the present disclosure is implementedin an information processing system illustrated in FIG. 1 . Asillustrated in FIG. 1 , the information processing system includes aninformation processing device 10, a terminal device 20, and a basestation device 30.

The information processing device 10 is a game server, for example, andprovides a service such as a game to the terminal device 20 via the basestation device 30. The information processing device 10 transmits amoving image such as a game image to the terminal device 20, forexample.

The terminal device 20 may be, for example, a smartphone, a PC, or agame device. The terminal device 20 displays the moving image acquiredfrom the information processing device 10 on a display unit of theterminal device 20 or a display device connected to the terminal device20.

The base station device 30 is a wireless communication device thatperforms wireless communication with the terminal device 20. The basestation device 30 is, for example, a device corresponding to a radiobase station (Node B, eNB, gNB, etc.), and provides a cellularcommunication service such as New Radio (NR) to the terminal device 20.The base station device 30 may be a radio relay station. The basestation device 30 may be an on-road base station device such as a RoadSide Unit (RSU). Furthermore, the base station device 30 may be anoptical link device referred to as a Remote Radio Head (RRH).

The base station device 30 is connected to the information processingdevice 10 via a network, for example, and transmits information relatedto a service provided by the information processing device 10, such as amoving image of a game, to the terminal device 20. Furthermore, the basestation device 30 provides game operation information and the like onthe terminal device to the information processing device 10 via anetwork. In this manner, the information processing device

and the terminal device 20 transmit and receive information via the basestation device 30, making it possible for the terminal device 20 toreceive provision of a service such as a cloud game from the informationprocessing device 10, for example.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the terminal device 20and the information processing device 10 are connected by wirelesscommunication via the base station device 30, the terminal device 20 andthe information processing device 10 may be connected by wiredcommunication via a network, for example.

In this manner, in recent years, as games of a smartphone and a PC,there are more network games connected to a game server (informationprocessing device 10) via a network rather than a stand-alone gameplayed within the terminal device 20.

In order to ensure usability on a network game, it is important toperform stable communication regardless of whether it is wired orwireless communication. However, it is not easy to obtain a stablecommunication environment. For example, depending on the use status ofthe network or the like, there may be a sudden decrease in communicationband availability or deterioration in the responsiveness. In thismanner, even when the communication status changes, it is important toadapt to the change in order to improve the operability and usability ofthe game.

Here, the 5G, which has been partially started in service, has threefeatures of large capacity, low latency, and multiple access. Satisfyingthese three features in a network game, for example, will make itpossible to improve operability and usability of the game.

However, it is difficult, in an actual wireless communicationenvironment, to satisfy all of these three features at the same time.This similarly applies not merely to 5G but also to other wirelesscommunication environments such as LTE, as well as wired communicationenvironments.

For example, in a game communication environment using 5G, a certaingame is expected to satisfy a low latency which is a feature of 5G. Onthe other hand, in another game, it is expected to satisfy a largecapacity (high quality) which is a feature of 5G. In this manner, in agame communication environment in which many players play various games,it is considered difficult to simultaneously maintain all the featuresrequired in each game. For example, it may be difficult tosimultaneously satisfy, in all games, low latency and large capacityrequired in each of the games.

Therefore, in the technology of the present disclosure, thecommunication device (for example, the information processing device 10or the terminal device 20) performs communication control in accordancewith characteristic information (for example, low latency, largecapacity, or the like) of the game.

Normally, in a game server, communication is performed withoutconsidering characteristics required for a game, and thus, communicationcontrol according to the nature of the game is not performed.

In this regard, the communication device according to the technology ofthe present disclosure performs communication control according to thecharacteristic information of the game, making it possible for thecommunication device to perform communication satisfying thecharacteristics (for example, a low latency, a large capacity, or thelike) required for the game. This makes it possible for thecommunication device to provide a game service with a more stablequality, leading to further improvement of the operability and usabilityof the game.

2. Configuration Example of Information Processing System

<2.1. Information Processing System>

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing system according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As described above, the information processing systemincludes the information processing device 10 and the terminal deviceAlthough not illustrated in FIG. 2 , the information processing systemmay include the base station device 30 as illustrated in FIG. 1 .Alternatively, when the information processing device 10 is a mobileedge computing (MEC) device, the information processing device 10 may bedisposed as a server in the base station device 30.

[Information Processing Device 10]

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the information processing device 10 is aclient server that provides an application function to a client device.The information processing device 10 is a game server that provides agame service as an application function, for example, and transmitsmoving image data to be displayed as a game screen to the terminaldevice 20. Furthermore, the information processing device receivesinformation (scene information) related to a scene being displayed as agame screen from the terminal device 20. The scene information is, forexample, information indicating a scene of a game, such as whether thegame screen is a menu screen or a play screen.

The information processing device 10 includes an application unit 110, arendering processing unit 120, an encoding unit 130, a communicationunit 140, a storage unit 150, and a control unit 160.

(Application Unit 110)

The application unit 110 includes one or more applications that providea service to the terminal device 20 based on information acquired by thecontrol unit 160. Implemented by the program operating on a centralprocessing unit (CPU), for example, the application unit 110 causes theterminal device 20 to display a moving image to provide a game serviceto a user of the terminal device 20.

More specifically, the application unit 110 controls the operation ofthe game. For example, the application unit 110 outputs the moving imagedata to the rendering processing unit 120 based on the data acquiredfrom the terminal device 20.

The service provided by the application unit 110 is not limited to thegame service, and may be, for example, various services such as a videoviewing service.

(Rendering Processing Unit 120)

The rendering processing unit 120 is a drawing unit that performsrendering processing of a moving image to be displayed on the terminaldevice 20. The rendering processing unit 120 performs processing ofgenerating image data to be displayed as a game screen. In accordancewith instructions from the application unit 110 and the control unit160, the rendering processing unit 120 performs rendering of a sceneimage of a game at a predetermined rendering resolution and a framerate.

The rendering processing unit 120 includes a processor such as agraphics processing unit (GPU). The processor operates according to apredetermined program, enabling generation of moving image information.In a case where the rendering processing unit 120 includes a pluralityof GPUs, the rendering processing unit 120 appropriately dividesinformation related to image generation, and performs image processingin parallel by the plurality of GPUs.

(Encoding Unit 130)

The encoding unit 130 encodes and thereby compresses the image datagenerated by the rendering processing unit 120, and outputs a compressedbit stream (hereinafter, also referred to as compressed data) to thecommunication unit 140. The encoding unit 130 generates compressed datain accordance with an instruction from the control unit 160.

The encoding unit 130 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a buffer 131. Theencoding unit 130 temporarily stores compressed data and the like in thebuffer 131 and performs encoding processing.

(Communication Unit 140)

The communication unit 140 is a communication interface (I/F) used forcommunication with an external device. The communication unit 140 isimplemented by a network interface card (NIC), for example. For example,the communication unit 140 communicates with a core network to which thebase station device 30 (refer to FIG. 1 ) is connected. Thecommunication unit 140 converts a scene image encoded by the encodingunit 130 into a transmission signal and transmits the obtainedtransmission signal to the terminal device 20. Furthermore, thecommunication unit 140 receives the scene information and the serviceinformation related to the game service from the terminal device 20, andnotifies the control unit 160 of the reception result. Furthermore, thecommunication unit 140 transmits characteristic information generatedbased on the scene information and the service information to theterminal device 20.

The communication unit 140 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a buffer 141.The communication unit 140 temporarily stores communication data and thelike in the buffer 141 and performs communication processing.

(Storage Unit 150)

The storage unit 150 is a data readable/writable storage device such asDRAM, SRAM, a flash drive, and a hard disk. The storage unit 150functions as a storage means in the information processing device 10.The storage unit 150 stores control information and the like used forcommunication control and buffer control performed by the control unit160 described below.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration in which the encoding unit130 and the communication unit 140 have buffer memory as the buffers 131and 141, respectively, the configuration is not limited thereto. Forexample, the encoding unit 130 and the communication unit 140 mayperform processing using a part of the storage unit 150 as the buffers131 and 141.

(Control Unit 160)

The control unit 160 controls individual portions of the informationprocessing device 10. The control unit 160 is implemented by executionof programs stored inside the information processing device 10 by acentral processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), or thelike, using random access memory (RAM) or the like, as a working area.Furthermore, the control unit 160 is actualized by, for example, anintegrated circuit such as an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

The control unit 160 includes an acquisition unit 161, a buffer controlunit 162, and a communication control unit 163, and implements orexecutes functions and operations of information processing describedbelow. The internal configuration of the control unit 160 is not limitedto the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 , and may be any otherconfiguration as long as it is a configuration that performs informationprocessing described below.

Furthermore, the connection relationship of the processing unitsincluded in the control unit 160 is not limited to the connectionrelationship illustrated in FIG. 2 , and may be a different connectionrelationship.

(Acquisition Unit 161)

The acquisition unit 161 acquires information (characteristicinformation) related to the characteristic of the game. The acquisitionunit 161 acquires information related to the game service andinformation related to scenes of the game service from the terminaldevice 20, and acquires the characteristic information from the storageunit 150 based on the acquired information.

The characteristic information is information related to acharacteristic required when providing a game service, for example. Thecharacteristic information includes information indicating a requiredcharacteristic among low latency, large capacity, and multiple access,for example. The characteristic information is set in units of servicesprovided by the application unit 110, for example. Furthermore, thecharacteristic information may be set for each scene of the service.Details of the characteristic information will be described below.

(Buffer Control Unit 162)

The buffer control unit 162 controls the buffers 131 and 141 of therespective units based on the characteristic information acquired by theacquisition unit 161. The buffer control unit 162 controls the bufferamounts of the buffers 131 and 141 based on the characteristicinformation.

(Communication Control Unit 163)

The communication control unit 163 controls communication processingperformed by the communication unit 140 based on the characteristicinformation acquired by the acquisition unit 161. Furthermore, thecommunication control unit 163 controls processing performed by theencoding unit 130, such as processing regarding a frame rate and anencoding rate.

[Terminal Device 20]

The terminal device 20 is a client device (information processingdevice) which receives provision of an application function from theinformation processing device which is a client server. The terminaldevice 20 receives provision of a game service as an applicationfunction, for example.

The terminal device 20 receives moving image data related to the gametransmitted from the information processing device 10, and displays thereceived moving image data. The terminal device 20 determines a scene ofa game according to a user's operation on the game and transmits sceneinformation related to the determined scene to the informationprocessing device 10.

The terminal device 20 includes a communication unit 210, a decodingunit 220, a rendering processing unit 230, an input/output unit 240, astorage unit 250, and a control unit 260.

(Communication Unit 210)

The communication unit 210 is a communication interface (I/F) used forcommunication with an external device. The communication unit 210 isimplemented by a network interface card (NIC), for example. For example,the communication unit 210 is connected to a core network by performingwireless communication with the base station device 30 (refer to FIG. 1). The communication unit 210 receives the moving image data of the gamefrom the information processing device 10. The communication unit 210transmits the scene information and the service information related tothe game service to the information processing device 10. Thecommunication unit 210 receives the characteristic information from theinformation processing device 10.

The communication unit 210 includes a buffer 211, temporarily storesdata received from the information processing device 10 in the buffer,and performs reception processing. The communication unit 210temporarily stores data to be transmitted to the information processingdevice 10 in a buffer and performs transmission processing.

(Decoding Unit 220)

The decoding unit 220 decodes moving image data received by thecommunication unit 210. The decoding unit 220 includes a buffer 221,temporarily stores moving image data, and performs decoding processing.

(Rendering Processing Unit 230)

The rendering processing unit 230 performs rendering of the moving imagedata decoded by the decoding unit 220 and controls to display therendered moving image on a display (not illustrated) of the input/outputunit 240.

(Input/Output Unit 240)

The input/output unit 240 includes, for example, a display device (notillustrated) such as a display and an input device (not illustrated)such as an operation device (controller). The input/output unit 240displays the moving image data rendered by the rendering processing unit230 on the display. The input/output unit 240 detects an operation onthe game by the user via the input device.

(Storage Unit 250)

The storage unit 250 is a data readable/writable storage device such asDRAM, SRAM, a flash drive, and a hard disk. The storage unit 250functions as a storage means in the terminal device 20. The storage unit250 stores control information and the like used for communicationcontrol and buffer control performed by the control unit 260 describedbelow.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration in which the communicationunit 210 and the decoding unit 120 have buffer memory as the buffers 211and 221, respectively, for example, the configuration is not limitedthereto. For example, the communication unit 210 and the decoding unit120 may perform processing using a part of the storage unit 250 as thebuffers 211 and 221.

(Control Unit 260)

The control unit 260 controls individual portions of the terminal device20. The control unit 260 is implemented by execution of programs storedinside the terminal device 20 by a central processing unit (CPU), amicro processing unit (MPU), or the like, using random access memory(RAM) or the like, as a working area. Furthermore, the control unit 260is actualized by, for example, an integrated circuit such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmablegate array (FPGA).

The control unit 260 includes an acquisition unit 261, a buffer controlunit 262, and a communication control unit 263, and implements orexecutes functions and operations of information processing describedbelow. The internal configuration of the control unit 260 is not limitedto the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 , and may be any otherconfiguration as long as it is a configuration that performs informationprocessing described below. Furthermore, the connection relationship ofthe processing units included in the control unit 260 is not limited tothe connection relationship illustrated in FIG. 2 , and may be adifferent connection relationship.

(Acquisition Unit 261)

The acquisition unit 261 acquires information (characteristicinformation) related to the application function (characteristic of thegame). The acquisition unit 261 acquires service information related tothe game service and scene information related to the scene of the gameservice from the input/output unit 240 and the storage unit 250. Bynotifying the information processing device of the acquired information,the acquisition unit 261 acquires characteristic information from theinformation processing device 10.

(Buffer Control Unit 262)

The buffer control unit 262 controls the buffers 211 and 221 of therespective units based on the characteristic information acquired by theacquisition unit 261. The buffer control unit 262 controls the bufferamounts of the buffers 211 and 221 based on the characteristicinformation.

(Communication Control Unit 263)

The communication control unit 263 controls communication processingperformed by the communication unit 210 based on the characteristicinformation acquired by the acquisition unit 261. Furthermore, thecommunication control unit 263 controls processing performed by thedecoding unit 220, such as processing of a frame rate and a decodingrate.

<2.2. Information Processing Device>

Next, details of the information processing device 10 will be described.FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of theinformation processing device according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

(Application Unit 110)

The application unit 110 of the information processing device 10 is anapplication that provides a game service, for example.

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of service types according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure. In a case where theapplication unit 110 provides a game service, the type of the gameservice can be specified by a category and a sub-category as illustratedin FIG. 4 , for example.

For example, the category corresponds to a large classification thatclassifies services such as “shooting” and “action”. Services includedin the category “shooting” are classified into small categories such as“bullet curtain shooting” and “first person shooter (FPS)” assub-categories, for example.

(Storage Unit 150)

Returning to FIG. 3 . The storage unit 150 stores the game serviceprovided by the application unit 110 and the characteristic informationin association with each other.

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating an example of characteristic informationstored in the storage unit 150 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the storage unit 150stores the sub-category of the game service and the priority of thecharacteristic information in association with each other. Thecharacteristic information includes, for example, information related tothe communication quality characteristic (low-latency characteristic orlarge-capacity characteristic) required for the service and informationrelated to the characteristic (multiple access characteristic) accordingto the quantity of terminals to which the service is provided.

For example, the storage unit 150 stores the low-latency characteristicand the large-capacity characteristic as the characteristic informationin association with the sub-category of the game. For example, in thesub-category “FPS”, the priority of the low-latency characteristic ishigh (High), and the priority of the large-capacity characteristic ismiddle (Mid). On the other hand, in the sub-category “strategy game”,the priority of the low-latency characteristic is low (Low), and thepriority of the large-capacity characteristic is high (High).

The storage unit 150 may store the service scene and the characteristicinformation in association with each other. FIG. 6 is a tableillustrating another example of characteristic information stored in thestorage unit 150 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.As illustrated in FIG. 6 , the storage unit 150 stores the scene and thepriority of the characteristic information in association with eachother for each sub-category of the game service.

For example, the storage unit 150 stores characteristic information foreach menu scene and each play scene as a scene. In the “menu” scene ofthe sub-category “PvP fighting game”, the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is low (Low), and the large-capacity characteristic ishigh (High). Even in the same sub-category of “PvP fighting game”, in acase where the scene is “play”, the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is high (High), and the priority of the large-capacitycharacteristic is middle (Mid).

Although this is the description of the case where the storage unit 150stores the priority of the characteristic information, the object to bestored is not limited thereto. For example, the storage unit 150 maystore the characteristic information most required for the game service.In this case, the storage unit 150 stores, for example, sub-category“FPS” and “low latency” in association with each other, and stores“strategy game” and “large capacity” in association with each other.

Furthermore, the storage unit 150 stores control information used forcontrol by the control unit 160. The control information includescommunication control information used for communication control andbuffer control information used for buffer control.

The storage unit 150 stores characteristic information and controlinformation in association with each other. FIG. 7 is a tableillustrating an example of communication control information stored inthe storage unit 150 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates a case where the storage unit 150 storesinformation related to a network slice as the communication controlinformation.

For example, in a case where the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is high (High) and the priority of the large-capacitycharacteristic is low (Low), the storage unit 150 stores “Slice 5” asthe corresponding network slice.

Note that the storage unit 150 stores, as the communication controlinformation, a frame rate, an encoding rate, an encoding method, acommunication protocol type, and the like in association with thecharacteristic information, in addition to the information related tothe network slice. In addition, the storage unit 150 stores the bufferamount and the characteristic information in association with each otheras the buffer control information.

The storage unit 150 may store the game service, the characteristicinformation, and the control information in association with each other.FIG. 8 is a table illustrating another example of characteristicinformation stored in the storage unit 150 according to the embodimentof the present disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8 , thestorage unit 150 stores the sub-category of the game service, thepriority of the characteristic information, the communication controlinformation, and the buffer control information in association with eachother. FIG. 8 illustrates a case where the storage unit 150 storesinformation related to the network slice as the communication controlinformation and stores information related to the buffer amount as thebuffer control information.

For example, in FIG. 8 , the sub-category “FPS” has a high low-latencycharacteristic (High), a middle large-capacity characteristic (Mid), anetwork slice is “Slice 2”, and a buffer amount is “small”. In addition,the sub-category “strategy game” has a low-latency characteristic (Low)and a high large-capacity characteristic (High). In the sub-category“strategy game”, the network slice used is “Slice 6”, and the bufferamount is “large”.

In this manner, the storage unit 150 stores characteristic informationcorresponding to the service to be provided to the terminal device 20.In addition, the storage unit 150 stores control informationcorresponding to the characteristic information. This makes it possiblefor the information processing device 10 to perform communicationcontrol and buffer control according to the characteristic informationrequired for the service.

Although the storage unit 150 stores the low-latency characteristic andthe large-capacity (high image quality) characteristic as thecharacteristic information, the object to be stored is not limitedthereto. For example, the storage unit 150 may store the multiple-accesscharacteristic as the characteristic information. For example, thepriority of the multiple-access characteristic is high in a game inwhich a large quantity of players participate at the same time.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating another example of characteristicinformation stored in the storage unit 150 according to the embodimentof the present disclosure. In FIG. 9 , the storage unit 150 stores thepriority of the characteristic information and the information relatedto the network slice as the communication control information inassociation with each other. For example, in a case where thelow-latency characteristic is low (Low), the large-capacitycharacteristic is low (Low), and the multiple-access characteristic ishigh (High), the “Slice 10” is used as the network slice.

(Control Unit 160)

Returning to FIG. 3 . The acquisition unit 161 of the control unit 160includes a service information acquisition unit 161 a, a sceneinformation acquisition unit 161 b, and a characteristic informationacquisition unit 161 c.

The service information acquisition unit 161 a acquires serviceinformation related to a service provided by the application unit 110from the terminal device 20. For example, in a case where theapplication unit 110 provides a game service, the service informationacquisition unit 161 a acquires information related to a sub-category ofa game from the terminal device 20 via the communication unit 140.

The scene information acquisition unit 161 b acquires scene informationfrom the terminal device 20 via the communication unit 140. The sceneinformation acquisition unit 161 b acquires, for example, informationindicating whether the scene image displayed on the screen of theterminal device 20 is a menu scene which is a menu image or a play scenewhich is a play image.

The characteristic information acquisition unit 161 c acquirescharacteristic information based on the service information and thescene information. For example, in a case where the service informationis “PvP fighting game” and the scene information is “play”, thecharacteristic information acquisition unit 161 c refers to the storageunit 150 to acquire information that the low-latency characteristic ishigh (High) and the large-capacity characteristic is low (Low) (refer toFIG. 6 ).

The buffer control unit 162 illustrated in FIG. 3 controls the bufferamounts of the buffers 131 and 141 based on the characteristicinformation acquired by the characteristic information acquisition unit161 c. The buffer control unit 162 refers to the storage unit 150, forexample, and determines the buffer amount corresponding to the priorityof the characteristic information.

The buffers 131 and 141 temporarily accumulate data for encodingprocessing and communication processing. Accordingly, the longer thetime during which the data is accumulated, the more the transmission ofthe data is delayed, leading to transmission latency. Therefore, one wayto reduce the data transmission latency would be reducing the bufferamount of the buffers 131 and 141.

However, in practice, in order to transmit and receive data, theinformation processing device 10 needs to convert data into variousformats and adjust data transmission or reception timings, and thusneeds to have the buffers 131 and 141 of a certain buffer amount.

For example, in a case where the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is high, the buffer control unit 162 controls the buffers131 and 141 to have a first buffer amount B1 which is a small bufferamount. With a small buffer amount, it is possible to divide thetransmission data into small portions, leading to reduction of theaccumulation time in the buffers 131 and 141 and a higher transmissionspeed.

In a case where the priority of the large-capacity (high image quality)characteristic is high, the buffer control unit 162 controls the buffers131 and 141 to have a second buffer amount B2 (B1<B2) which is a largebuffer amount. In a case where the priority of the large-capacitycharacteristic is high, it is preferable to collectively process data tosome extent in order to efficiently transmit the data. Therefore, in acase where the priority of the large-capacity characteristic is high,the buffer control unit 162 increases the buffer amount as compared witha case where the priority of the low-latency characteristic is high.This makes it possible for the information processing device 10 totransmit high-quality image data.

In a case where the priority of the multiple-access characteristic ishigh, a large quantity of players (terminal devices 20) play a game.Accordingly, the data to be transmitted has a small size in many cases,and the buffer amount for data processing need not be so large. On theother hand, it is important to control a communication timing forexecution of communication with a large quantity of terminal devices 20.This might produce a waiting time for adjustment of the communicationtimings, requiring a certain buffer amount to accommodate the waitingtime.

In view of this, in a case where the priority of the multiple-accesscharacteristic is high, the buffer control unit 162 controls the buffers131 and 141 to have the buffer amount of a third buffer amount B3(B1<B3<B2) which is a middle level. This makes it possible for theinformation processing device 10 to transmit small-sized data whileperforming communication timing control.

As described below, the communication unit 140 includes first to thirdcommunication processing units 140 a to 140 c, and each of the first tothird communication processing units 140 a to 140 c includes buffers 141a to 141 c, respectively. The buffer control unit 162 controls thebuffer amount for each of the buffers 141 a to 141 c.

The communication control unit 163 controls processing related tocommunication performed by the communication unit 140 based oncharacteristic information acquired by the characteristic informationacquisition unit 161 c.

The communication control unit 163 refers to the storage unit 150 andselects a network slice to be used for communication in accordance withthe characteristic information.

Furthermore, the communication control unit 163 selects a bandwidth tobe used for communication. For example, in a case where the priority ofthe low-latency characteristic is high, the communication control unit163 decreases the bandwidth used for communication to a first bandwidthW1. This makes it possible for the information processing device 10 toeasily secure a band, facilitating stable communication.

In a case where the priority of the large-capacity characteristic ishigh, the communication control unit 163 increases the bandwidth usedfor communication to a second bandwidth W2 (W1<W2). This makes itpossible for the information processing device 10 to increase the amountof data to be transmitted at a time.

In a case where the priority of the multiple-access characteristic ishigh, the communication control unit 163 decreases the bandwidth usedfor communication to a third bandwidth W3 (W1<W3). This makes itpossible for the information processing device 10 to easily secure aband, facilitating stable communication.

Furthermore, the communication control unit 163 selects a protocol to beused by the communication unit 140 based on the characteristicinformation. An example of the protocol used by the communication unit140 will be described below.

Note that the communication control unit 163 can control encodingprocessing in the encoding unit 130 and rendering processing in therendering processing unit 120 in addition to the communicationprocessing in the communication unit 140.

For example, when scene image compression performed by the encoding unit130 is performed with high compression rate, or when the scene image hashigh resolution and high image quality, the encoding processing takestime, leading to an increased transmission latency.

To handle this, in a case where the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is high, the communication control unit 163 decreases thecompression rate of the compression processing performed by the encodingunit 130 to a first compression rate C1. Furthermore, the communicationcontrol unit 163 reduces the resolution after the compression processingperformed by the encoding unit 130 to a first resolution R1 (lowresolution). This makes it possible for the information processingdevice 10 to shorten the time of the compression processing performed bythe encoding unit 130, leading to reduction of the transmission latency.

In a case where the priority of the large-capacity characteristic ishigh, the communication control unit 163 increases the compression rateof the compression processing performed by the encoding unit 130 to asecond compression rate C2 (C1<C2). Furthermore, the communicationcontrol unit 163 increases the resolution after the compressionprocessing performed by the encoding unit 130 to a second resolution R2(R1<R2) (high resolution) This makes it possible for the informationprocessing device 10 to transmit image data with high image quality.

In a case where the priority of the multiple-access characteristic ishigh, for example, the communication control unit 163 sets thecompression rate of the compression processing performed by the encodingunit 130 to a third compression rate C3 (C1≤C3<C2) which is a low ormiddle rate. Furthermore, the communication control unit 163 sets theresolution after the compression processing performed by the encodingunit 130 to a third resolution R3 (R1≤R3<R2) which is a low or middleresolution, for example. This makes it possible for the informationprocessing device 10 to transmit image data of a small or middle size,leading to reduction of transmission latency.

In addition to the compression rate and the resolution described above,the communication control unit 163 can also control the frame rate andthe bit rate, for example, according to the characteristic information.

For example, increasing the frame rate results in a shortened timeinterval for each frame and reduction of the transmission latency. Onthe other hand, increasing the frame rate also increases the bit rate,taking more time for encoding processing and communication processing.

To handle this, in a case where the priority of the low-latencycharacteristic is high, the communication control unit 163 increases theframe rate after the compression processing performed by the encodingunit 130 to a first frame rate FR1, for example. In addition, thecommunication control unit 163 lowers the bit rate to a first bit rateBR1, for example. For example, the communication control unit 163reduces the resolution of the image data to reduce the bit rate.

In a case where the priority of the large-capacity characteristic ishigh, the communication control unit 163 decreases the frame rate afterthe compression processing performed by the encoding unit 130 to asecond frame rate FR2 (FR1>FR2), for example. In addition, thecommunication control unit 163 increases the bit rate to a second bitrate BR2 (BR1<BR2), for example. For example, the communication controlunit 163 increases the resolution of the image data to increase the bitrate.

In a case where the priority of the multiple-access characteristic ishigh, for example, the communication control unit 163 sets the framerate after the compression processing performed by the encoding unit 130to a third frame rate FR3 (FR1 FR3>FR2), which is a middle or high rate.In addition, the communication control unit 163 sets the bit rate to thethird bit rate BR3 (BR1≤BR3<BR2) which is a low or middle rate, forexample. For example, the communication control unit 163 adjusts theresolution of the image data to adjust the bit rate.

(Rendering Processing Unit 120)

The rendering processing unit 120 generates image data in accordancewith an instruction from the control unit 160. The rendering processingunit 120 outputs the generated image data to the encoding unit 130.

(Encoding Unit 130)

The encoding unit 130 is, for example, a video encoder that performscompression processing on the image data generated by the renderingprocessing unit 120. In accordance with an instruction from the controlunit 160, the encoding unit 130 compresses the image data at acompression rate, a frame rate, and a bit rate according to thecharacteristic information and generates compressed data. The encodingunit 130 outputs the generated compressed data to the communication unit140.

(Communication Unit 140)

The communication unit 140 processes the compressed data in accordancewith an appropriate communication protocol for transmitting thecompressed data and generates transmission data. The communication unit140 includes first to third communication processing units 140 a to 140c. For example, the first and second communication processing units 140a and 140 b perform communication processing for video transmission,while the third communication processing unit 140 c performscommunication processing according to a transmission path.

The first communication processing unit 140 a generates a videotransmission stream in accordance with a Real-time Transport Protocol(RTP), for example. RTP is a protocol often used for audio/videotransmission. In actual video transmission, RTP is often used incombination with another protocol such as RTP Control Protocol (RTCP)that performs communication quality control and the like. Here, however,in order to simplify the description, a case of using RTP will bedescribed.

RTP is a protocol that basically forms video data (compressed data) intoa predetermined format and converts the data into a format that is easyto transmit. At this time, according to the RTP, in addition to thevideo data, a timestamp indicating the sampled time of the video dataand a sequence number indicating the order of RTP packets are formedinto a format. The timestamp and the sequence number are used, forexample, for the reception side to determine data loss duringtransmission or the timing of reproduction of the moving image.

The first communication processing unit 140 a temporarily accumulatesvideo data and the like using the buffer 141 a having its buffer amountadjusted by the control unit 160, and generates a video transmissionstream

(Rtp Packet).

The first communication processing unit 140 a outputs the generatedfirst communication data (for example, a video transmission stream) tothe second communication processing unit 140 b.

The second communication processing unit 140 b generates transmissiondata (second communication data) according to the communicationprotocol. For example, the image data is transmitted to the terminaldevice 20 via an IP network. The IP network is a network also referredto as the Internet. The RTP packet is usually transmitted to theterminal device 20 by using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or aUser Datagram Protocol (UDP) and then using an Internet Protocol (IP).

Both TCP and UDP are protocols designed to reliably transmit data from atransmission side to a reception side via the Internet using informationsuch as a source address and a destination address necessary forInternet communication based on the IP. Comparing TCP and UDP, TCPenables data transmission with higher reliability. Compared with TCP,UDP enables data transmission with lower latency. UDP is generally usedin many cases where RTP is used. Therefore, a case where the secondcommunication processing unit 140 b generates transmission data by usingUDP will be described below.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating transmission data generated by thecommunication unit 140 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 10 , the first communication processing unit 140a performs RTP processing on a compressed data string generated by theencoding unit 130, and adds an RTP header to the compressed data stringto generate an RTP packet. The RTP packet is output to the secondcommunication processing unit 140 b.

The second communication processing unit 140 b adds a UDP header to theRTP packet to generate a UDP packet. The UDP header includes informationrelated to an Internet transmission port, for example. The port is adata doorway number inside the device (information processing device10).

Next, the second communication processing unit 140 b adds an IP headerto the UDP packet to generate an IP packet. The IP header includes asource address and a destination address for Internet transmission, forexample.

The second communication processing unit 140 b temporarily accumulateseach packet or the like using the buffer 141 b having its buffer amountadjusted by the control unit 160, and generates an IP packet. The secondcommunication processing unit 140 b outputs the generated IP packet tothe third communication processing unit 140 c.

Although the second communication processing unit 140 b generates a UDPpacket using UDP, the generation is not limited thereto. For example,the second communication processing unit 140 b may generate a TCP packetby using TCP. In this case, the first communication processing unit 140a may generate the first communication data using a protocol other thanRTP.

Alternatively, the second communication processing unit 140 b may changethe protocol based on characteristic information. For example, thesecond communication processing unit 140 b may select UDP in a casewhere the priority of the low-latency characteristic is high, and mayselect TCP in a case where the priority of the large-capacitycharacteristic is high. In this case, the first communication processingunit 140 a may change the protocol to be used according to the protocolselected by the second communication processing unit 140 b.

Returning to FIG. 3 . The third communication processing unit 140 cperforms processing corresponding to a transmission physical medium onthe IP packet to generate a transmission signal. The third communicationprocessing unit 140 c transmits the generated transmission signal to theterminal device 20.

Here, the transmission physical medium is a network to which theinformation processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 areconnected, and examples thereof include Ethernet, 5G, and 4G. The thirdcommunication processing unit 140 c performs signal processing on the IPpacket according to the type of network to generate and transmit atransmission signal. For example, the 5G network uses theabove-described network slice technology to implement communicationsatisfying the low-latency characteristic and the large-capacitycharacteristic. The third communication processing unit 140 c transmitsthe transmission signal using, for example, the network slice selectedby the control unit 160.

The third communication processing unit 140 c temporarily accumulateseach packet or the like using the buffer 141 c having its buffer amountadjusted by the control unit 160, and generates a transmission signal.The third communication processing unit 140 c transmits the generatedtransmission signal to the terminal device 20.

Since the conventional application server has not conductedcommunication control in consideration of characteristics of a serviceto be provided, making it difficult to perform efficient communicationcontrol according to the characteristics of the service. This has causedoccurrence of congestion when the communication amount increases, havinga possibility of occurrence of latency in data communication or dataloss during the communication. In this manner, it has been difficult forthe conventional application server (information processing device) toprovide a stable quality service.

In view of this, the information processing device 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure acquires characteristic informationof the service to be provided from the terminal device 20, and changesthe processing related to communication based on the acquiredcharacteristic information. This makes it possible for the informationprocessing device 10 to perform communication processing according tothe characteristic information, leading to achievement of efficientcommunication control. This makes it possible for the informationprocessing device 10 to provide stable quality service to the terminaldevice 20.

Furthermore, in addition to the communication processing of thecommunication unit 140, the encoding processing in the encoding unit130, the buffer amount, and the like are to be also controlled by theinformation processing device 10 based on the characteristicinformation. For example, when the information processing device 10performs control only as communication control of communication relatedto a network, it would just improve characteristics resulting from atransmission path (network) but would not improve characteristicsresulting from the encoding processing, for example. Specifically, evenwhen the information processing device 10 selects a network slice toreduce the latency on the network, the data transmission latency as awhole cannot be reduced in the presence of prolonged encodingprocessing.

In view of this, the information processing device 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure performs controls as thecommunication control processing on the buffer amount, the encodingprocessing, and the like based on the characteristic information inaddition to the control on the communication processing of thecommunication unit 140. This makes it possible for the informationprocessing device 10 to perform communication that satisfiescharacteristics required for services, and to provide stable qualityservices to the terminal device

<2.3. Terminal Device>

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of theterminal device 20 according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

(Storage Unit 250)

The storage unit 250 stores a game service provided from the applicationunit 110.

(Control Unit 260)

The acquisition unit 261 of the control unit 260 includes a serviceinformation acquisition unit 261 a, a scene information acquisition unit261 b, and a characteristic information acquisition unit 261 c.

The service information acquisition unit 261 a acquires serviceinformation related to the service provided from the application unit110 from the storage unit 250, for example. For example, in a case wherethe application unit 110 provides a game service, the serviceinformation acquisition unit 261 a acquires information related to asub-category of a game. The service information acquisition unit 261 anotifies the information processing device 10 of the acquired serviceinformation.

The scene information acquisition unit 261 b acquires scene information.The scene information acquisition unit 261 b acquires scene informationfrom the input/output unit 240, for example. The scene informationacquisition unit 261 b notifies the information processing device 10 ofthe acquired scene information. The characteristic informationacquisition unit 261 c acquires characteristic information from theinformation processing device 10.

The buffer control unit 262 controls the buffer amounts of the buffers211 and 221 based on the characteristic information acquired by thecharacteristic information acquisition unit 261 c. The buffer controlunit 262 refers to the storage unit 250, for example, and determines thebuffer amount corresponding to the priority of the characteristicinformation. Note that the specific buffer control is the same as thecontrol performed by the buffer control unit 162 of the informationprocessing device 10, and thus description thereof is omitted.

As described below, the communication unit 210 includes first to thirdcommunication processing units 210 a to 210 c, and each of the first tothird communication processing units 210 a to 210 c includes buffers 211a to 211 c, respectively. The buffer control unit 262 controls thebuffer amount for each of the buffers 211 a to 211 c.

The communication control unit 263 controls processing related tocommunication performed by the communication unit 210 based on thecharacteristic information acquired by the characteristic informationacquisition unit 261 c.

The communication control unit 263 selects a protocol to be used by thecommunication unit 210 based on the characteristic information. Thecommunication control unit 263 selects a protocol used by theinformation processing device 10.

Note that the communication control unit 263 can control encodingprocessing in the decoding unit 220 and rendering processing in therendering processing unit 230 in addition to the communicationprocessing in the communication unit 210.

For example, the communication control unit 263 selects a compressionrate to be used by the decoding unit 220 based on the characteristicinformation. The communication control unit 263 selects the compressionrate used in the encoding processing of the information processingdevice 10. Similarly, the communication control unit 263 selects theframe rate or the bit rate used in the encoding processing of theinformation processing device 10 based on the characteristicinformation.

(Communication Unit 210)

The communication unit 210 processes the reception signal received fromthe information processing device 10 according to an appropriatecommunication protocol to generate compressed data. The communicationunit 210 includes first to third communication processing units 210 a to210 c. For example, the first communication processing unit 210 aperforms communication processing according to the transmission path,and the second and third communication processing units 210 b and 210 cperform communication processing for video transmission.

The first communication processing unit 210 a performs processingaccording to the transmission physical medium on the reception signalreceived, and generates an IP packet. The first communication processingunit 210 a outputs the generated IP packet to the second communicationprocessing unit 210 b.

The first communication processing unit 210 a temporarily accumulatesthe reception signal and the like using the buffer 211 a having itsbuffer amount adjusted by the control unit 260, and generates an IPpacket.

Second communication processing unit 210 b generates the firstcommunication data (video stream) from the IP packet according to thecommunication protocol. As described above, when the informationprocessing device 10 generates the IP packet using the IP and UDP, thesecond communication processing unit 210 b also generates the firstcommunication data from the IP packet based on the IP and UDP.

The second communication processing unit 210 b generates a UDP packetbased on an IP header added to the IP packet, for example. The secondcommunication processing unit 210 b generates an RTP packet based on theUDP header added to the UDP packet.

The second communication processing unit 210 b temporarily accumulateseach packet or the like using the buffer 211 b having its buffer amountadjusted by the control unit 260, and generates an RTP packet. Thesecond communication processing unit 210 b outputs the generated RTPpacket to the third communication processing unit 210 c.

The third communication processing unit 210 c generates compressed dataaccording to the RTP, for example. The third communication processingunit 210 c temporarily accumulates RTP packets and the like using thebuffer 211 c having its buffer amount adjusted by the control unit 260,and generates compressed data.

(Decoding Unit 220)

The decoding unit 220 is, for example, a video decoder that performsdecompression processing of decompressing the compressed data generatedby the communication unit 210 and generates image data. In accordancewith an instruction from the control unit 160, the decoding unit 220decompresses the compressed data at a compression rate, a frame rate,and a bit rate according to the characteristic information, andgenerates image data. The decoding unit 220 outputs the generated imagedata to the rendering processing unit 230.

(Rendering Processing Unit 230)

The rendering processing unit 230 performs rendering processing on theimage data in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 260,and outputs the processed image data to the input/output unit 240.

In this manner, the terminal device 20 according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure acquires the characteristic information of theservice to be provided, and changes the processing related tocommunication based on the acquired characteristic information. Thismakes it possible for the terminal device 20 to perform communicationprocessing according to the characteristic information, leading toachievement of efficient communication control. This makes it possiblefor the terminal device 20 to obtain stable quality service.

Furthermore, as the communication control processing, the terminaldevice 20 also controls the buffer amount, the decoding processing, andthe like based on the characteristic information in addition to thecommunication processing by the communication unit 210. This makes itpossible for the terminal device 20 to perform communication satisfyingthe characteristics required for the service, and to obtain stablequality service.

3. Communication Processing

<3.1. Communication Processing by Information Processing Device>

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of communication processingexecuted by the information processing device 10 according to theembodiment of the present disclosure. The information processing device10 repeatedly executes the communication processing illustrated in FIG.12 at a predetermined cycle while providing a service to the terminaldevice 20. Alternatively, the information processing device 10 mayexecute the communication processing illustrated in FIG. 12 at a timingwhen the scene is switched.

As illustrated in FIG. 12 , the information processing device 10acquires scene information (step S101). The information processingdevice 10 acquires scene information related to a scene of a game fromthe terminal device 20, for example. The information processing devicemay acquire the service information indicating the type of the game fromthe terminal device 20 in addition to the scene information.

The information processing device 10 acquires characteristic informationrequired for service provision based on the scene information and theservice information (step S102). The characteristic information includesa low-latency characteristic, a large-capacity characteristic, and amultiple-access characteristic, for example. Alternatively, thecharacteristic information may be information indicating the priority ofthese characteristics.

Based on the characteristic information, the information processingdevice 10 changes the buffer amounts of the buffers 131 and 141 used fordata transmission (step S103). The information processing device 10changes the communication processing for data transmission (step S104).The information processing device 10 changes parameters used forcommunication, such as a network slice and a bandwidth. Furthermore, theinformation processing device changes parameters related tocommunication data generation, such as a compression rate and a datarate, for example.

The information processing device 10 generates transmission data usingthe changed buffer, parameter, and the like (step S105), and transmitsthe generated transmission data (step S106).

<3.2. Communication Processing by Terminal Device>

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of communication processingexecuted by a terminal device 20 according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure. While receiving the service from the informationprocessing device 10, the terminal device 20 repeatedly executes thecommunication processing illustrated in FIG. 13 at a predeterminedcycle. Alternatively, the terminal device 209 may execute thecommunication processing illustrated in FIG. 13 at a timing when thescene is switched.

As illustrated in FIG. 13 , the terminal device 20 acquires sceneinformation (step S201). The terminal device 20 acquires sceneinformation related to a scene of a game from the input/output unit 240,for example. The terminal device 20 may acquire service informationindicating the type of the game from the storage unit 250 in addition tothe scene information.

The terminal device 20 acquires characteristic information from theinformation processing device 10 (step S102). The characteristicinformation includes a low-latency characteristic, a large-capacitycharacteristic, and a multiple-access characteristic, for example.Alternatively, the characteristic information may be informationindicating the priority of these characteristics. The terminal device 20notifies the information processing device 10 of the scene informationand the service information acquired in step S201, thereby acquiring thecharacteristic information.

The terminal device 20 changes the buffer amounts of the buffers 131 and141 used for data reception based on the characteristic information(step S203). The terminal device 20 changes the communication processingfor data reception (step S204). Furthermore, the terminal device 20changes parameters related to data decoding such as a compression rateand a data rate, for example.

The terminal device 20 receives the received data using the changedbuffer, parameter, and the like (step S205), and decodes the receptiondata received (step S206).

4. Other Embodiments

The above-described embodiment is an example, and various modificationsand applications are possible.

Although the above-described embodiment has described the menu and theplay as an example of the game scene, the game scene is not limitedthereto. For example, the scene of the game may include an “explanatoryvideo” scene demonstrating an operation method of the game, story of thegame, and the like.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment is an example inwhich the terminal device 20 transmits the scene information related tothe scene to the information processing device 10, the terminal device20 may transmit the scene information using TCP at this time. The sceneinformation is also information indicating the progress status of thegame, which is information that should be transmitted with higherreliability even though the amount of data is small. Therefore, theterminal device 20 transmits the scene information using TCP unlikevideo transmission using UDP. As described above, TCP is a protocol fortransmitting data with higher reliability, as compared with UDP.Therefore, with IP transmission of the scene information using TCP, theterminal device 20 can transmit the scene information with higherreliability to the information processing device 10.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment is an exemplaryconfiguration in which the control units 160 and 260 control the bufferamount of each processing unit based on scene information, theconfiguration is not limited thereto. Each processing unit may acquirescene information and control the buffer amount. For example, in theinformation processing device the encoding unit 140 and thecommunication unit 140 may individually acquire scene information andcontrol the buffer amounts of the buffers 131 and 141, respectively.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment has described anexemplary configuration in which the terminal device 20 determines ascene based on image data to be presented to the user, operationinformation performed by the user, or the like, and generates andtransmits scene information, the configuration is not limited to this.For example, the terminal device 20 may transmit operation informationperformed by the user to the information processing device 10. In thiscase, for example, the application unit 110 of the informationprocessing device 10 determines a scene based on the operationinformation and generates scene information. The control unit 160 of theinformation processing device 10 and the control unit 260 of theterminal device 20 acquire the scene information from the applicationunit 110.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment is an example inwhich the information processing device 10 is a game server, and a gameservice is provided to the user as an application function, the deviceis not limited thereto. The information processing device 10 may be anapplication server that provides an application function other than agame. Furthermore, the information processing device 10 may be a mobilebody such as a robot or a drone.

In this case, the information processing device transmits image datacaptured by the mobile body to the terminal device 20 that steers themobile body. The user steers the mobile body while confirming the imagedisplayed on the terminal device 20. The information processing device10 may perform communication control separately for a case where themobile body is moving at a predetermined speed or higher (moving scene)and a case where the mobile body is stopped at a speed of 0 or slowlymoving at a speed lower than a predetermined speed (stopping scene). Forexample, the information processing device 10 performs communicationcontrol such that image data is transmitted with a high priority for thelow-latency characteristic in a moving scene, and such that image datais transmitted with a high priority for the large-capacity (high imagequality) characteristic in a stop scene.

Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment is an example inwhich the information processing device 10 generates the characteristicinformation from the service information, the scene information, and thelike acquired from the terminal device the acquisition of information isnot limited thereto. For example, the information processing device 10may acquire information related to a service to be provided to theterminal device 20, such as service information and scene information,from the application unit 110.

Furthermore, the terminal device 20 may acquire the characteristicinformation from the service information, the scene information, or thelike. In this case, it is assumed that the storage unit 250 of theterminal device 20 is supposed to store the characteristic informationand the like (refer to FIGS. 5, 6 , etc.) similar to those of thestorage unit 150 of the information processing device 10. The terminaldevice 20 refers to the storage unit 250 based on the acquired serviceinformation and scene information, and acquires the characteristicinformation.

Note that the storage unit 250 may preliminarily store association orthe like of the service information and the characteristic information,or may acquire and store the service information and the characteristicinformation from the information processing device 10 via the controlunit 260.

The control device that controls the information processing device 10 orthe terminal device 20 of the present embodiment may be actualized by adedicated computer system or by a general-purpose computer system.

For example, a program for executing the above-described operations isstored in a computer-readable recording medium such as an optical disk,semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape, or a flexible disk anddistributed. For example, the program is installed on a computer and theabove processing is executed to achieve the configuration of the controldevice. At this time, the control device may be a device (for example, apersonal computer) outside the information processing device 10 or theterminal device 20. Furthermore, the control device may be a device (forexample, the control unit 160 or the control unit 260) inside theinformation processing device or the terminal device 20.

Furthermore, the communication program may be stored in a disk deviceincluded in a server device on a network such as the Internet so as tobe able to be downloaded to a computer, for example. Furthermore, thefunctions described above may be implemented by using operating system(OS) and application software in cooperation. In this case, the sectionsother than the OS may be stored in a medium for distribution, or thesections other than the OS may be stored in a server device so as to bedownloaded to a computer, for example.

Furthermore, among individual processing described in the aboveembodiments, all or a part of the processing described as beingperformed automatically may be manually performed, or the processingdescribed as being performed manually can be performed automatically byknown methods. In addition, the processing procedures, specific names,and information including various data and parameters illustrated in theabove Literatures or drawings can be arbitrarily altered unlessotherwise specified. For example, various types of informationillustrated in each of the drawings are not limited to the informationillustrated.

In addition, each of components of each device is provided as afunctional and conceptional illustration and thus does not necessarilyneed to be physically configured as illustrated. That is, the specificform of distribution/integration of each of the devices is not limitedto those illustrated in the drawings, and all or a part thereof may befunctionally or physically distributed or integrated into arbitraryunits according to various loads and use conditions.

Furthermore, the above-described embodiments can be appropriatelycombined within a range implementable without contradiction ofprocesses. Furthermore, the order of individual steps illustrated in thesequence diagram or the flowchart of the present embodiment can bechanged as appropriate.

Furthermore, for example, the present embodiment can be implemented asany configuration constituting a device or a system, for example, aprocessor as a large scale integration (LSI) or the like, a module usinga plurality of processors or the like, a unit using a plurality ofmodules or the like, and a set obtained by further adding otherfunctions to the unit, or the like (that is, a configuration of a partof the device).

In the present embodiment, a system represents a set of a plurality ofcomponents (devices, modules (components), or the like), and whether allthe components are in the same housing would not be a big issue.Therefore, a plurality of devices housed in separate housings andconnected via a network, and one device in which a plurality of modulesare housed in one housing, are both systems.

Furthermore, for example, the present embodiment can adopt aconfiguration of cloud computing in which one function is cooperativelyshared and processed by a plurality of devices via a network.

5. Supplementary Notes

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedin detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However,the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to suchexamples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art of the presentdisclosure that various modifications and alterations can be conceivedwithin the scope of the technical idea described in the claims andnaturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the effects described in the present specification aremerely illustrative or exemplary and are not limited. That is, thetechnology according to the present disclosure can exhibit other effectsthat are apparent to those skilled in the art from the description ofthe present specification in addition to or instead of the aboveeffects.

Note that the present technique can also have the followingconfigurations.

(1)

An information processing device that provides an application functionto a client device, the information processing device comprising:

-   -   an acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information        related to the application function; and    -   a communication unit that communicates with the client device,        wherein    -   the communication unit changes processing related to the        communication in accordance with the characteristic information.        (2)

The information processing device according to (1)a, wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   changes the processing related to the communication based on the        characteristic information according to scenes of the        application function.        (3)

The information processing device according to (2), wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   changes the processing related to the communication in        accordance with a characteristic of communication quality        required for each of the scenes.        (4)

The information processing device according to (2), wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   changes the processing related to the communication in        accordance with a quantity of the client devices to which the        application function is provided.        (5)

The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (4),further comprising

-   -   a storage unit that stores the characteristic information,        wherein    -   the acquisition unit    -   acquires the characteristic information from the storage unit.        (6)

The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (5),wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   decreases a bandwidth used for the communication when a low        latency is required and increases the bandwidth when a large        capacity is required, based on the characteristic information.        (7)

The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (6),wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   changes at least one of a frame rate and a bit rate of data to        be transmitted to the client device in accordance with the        characteristic information.        (8)

The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (7),wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   changes a buffer amount of a buffer used for processing related        to the communication, in accordance with the characteristic        information.        (9)

The information processing device according to (8), wherein

-   -   the communication unit    -   decreases the buffer amount when a low latency is required and        increases the buffer amount when a large capacity is required,        based on the characteristic information.        (10)

An information processing device that receives provision of anapplication function from a client server, the information processingdevice comprising:

-   -   an acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information        related to the application function; and    -   a communication unit that communicates with the client server,        wherein    -   the communication unit changes processing related to the        communication in accordance with the characteristic information.        (11)

A communication method for performing communication in an informationprocessing device that provides an application function to a clientdevice, the communication method comprising:

-   -   acquiring characteristic information related to the application        function; and    -   communicating with the client device, wherein    -   the processing related to the communication is changed in        accordance with the characteristic information in the        communication with the client device.        (12)

A communication method for performing communication in an informationprocessing device that receives provision of an application functionfrom a client server, the communication method comprising:

-   -   acquiring characteristic information related to the application        function; and    -   communicating with the client server, wherein processing related        to the communication is changed in accordance with the        characteristic information in the communication with the client        server.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   10 INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE    -   20 Terminal device    -   30 BASE STATION DEVICE    -   110 APPLICATION UNIT    -   120, 230 RENDERING PROCESSING UNIT    -   130 ENCODING UNIT    -   140, 210 COMMUNICATION UNIT    -   150, 250 STORAGE UNIT    -   160, 260 CONTROL UNIT    -   161, 261 ACQUISITION UNIT    -   162, 262 BUFFER CONTROL UNIT    -   163, 263 COMMUNICATION CONTROL UNIT    -   220 DECODING UNIT    -   240 INPUT/OUTPUT UNIT

1. An information processing device that provides an applicationfunction to a client device, the information processing devicecomprising: an acquisition unit that acquires characteristic informationrelated to the application function; and a communication unit thatcommunicates with the client device, wherein the communication unitchanges processing related to the communication in accordance with thecharacteristic information.
 2. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the communication unit changes theprocessing related to the communication based on the characteristicinformation according to scenes of the application function.
 3. Theinformation processing device according to claim 2, wherein thecommunication unit changes the processing related to the communicationin accordance with a characteristic of communication quality requiredfor each of the scenes.
 4. The information processing device accordingto claim 2, wherein the communication unit changes the processingrelated to the communication in accordance with a quantity of the clientdevices to which the application function is provided.
 5. Theinformation processing device according to claim 1, further comprising astorage unit that stores the characteristic information, wherein theacquisition unit acquires the characteristic information from thestorage unit.
 6. The information processing device according to claim 1,wherein the communication unit decreases a bandwidth used for thecommunication when a low latency is required and increases the bandwidthwhen a large capacity is required, based on the characteristicinformation.
 7. The information processing device according to claim 1,wherein the communication unit changes at least one of a frame rate anda bit rate of data to be transmitted to the client device in accordancewith the characteristic information.
 8. The information processingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit changes abuffer amount of a buffer used for processing related to thecommunication, in accordance with the characteristic information.
 9. Theinformation processing device according to claim 8, wherein thecommunication unit decreases the buffer amount when a low latency isrequired and increases the buffer amount when a large capacity isrequired, based on the characteristic information.
 10. An informationprocessing device that receives provision of an application functionfrom a client server, the information processing device comprising: anacquisition unit that acquires characteristic information related to theapplication function; and a communication unit that communicates withthe client server, wherein the communication unit changes processingrelated to the communication in accordance with the characteristicinformation.
 11. A communication method for performing communication inan information processing device that provides an application functionto a client device, the communication method comprising: acquiringcharacteristic information related to the application function; andcommunicating with the client device, wherein the processing related tothe communication is changed in accordance with the characteristicinformation in the communication with the client device.
 12. Acommunication method for performing communication in an informationprocessing device that receives provision of an application functionfrom a client server, the communication method comprising: acquiringcharacteristic information related to the application function; andcommunicating with the client server, wherein processing related to thecommunication is changed in accordance with the characteristicinformation in the communication with the client server.